Thanksgiving surprise - A dog who raises money as an official volunteer with BC SPCA

This Thanksgiving there’s one dog that stands out for me where a whole community can be thankful she is among us – Katie has combined her love of retrieving with a good cause – BC SPCA’s North Cariboo Branch.

The mixed breed dog is owned by Cheryl Giannisis, who has trained Katie to retrieve discarded pop cans or bottles on their daily walks. Giannisis bags all the recyclables Katie finds and takes them in for a refund then donates the proceeds to the SPCA.

“She just loves to retrieve things – keys, remote controls, slippers. And this way, she’s helping her community,” said Giannisis.

“It’s quite impressive,” says Denise Meade, the non-profit society’s director of development. “A lot of people fundraise on behalf or in memory of a beloved pet, but as far as we know, Katie is the only non-human to personally sign up.”

Katie began her volunteer bottle-collecting a couple of years ago when a neighbour, who lost both use of her legs to diabetes, needed financial help to build a wheelchair ramp for her house. According to her owner, this “one-in-a-million” dog was able to raise $400 by collecting recyclables for their neighbour and last year, Katie collected a further $640 worth of bottles and cans to donate to the SPCA.

“She’s extremely smart and she picks things up easily – literally,” said Giannisis, who walks Katie on an extendable leash. When the pair spot a can or bottle on the road Katie trots off after it and brings it to Giannisis.

“When people see her coming out of a ditch with a bottle in her mouth, they can’t believe it,” said Giannisis, who has been raising and showing dogs for nearly 30 years.

She rescued Katie six years ago along with eight other puppies in Katie’s litter. Giannisis found homes for all the other puppies but kept Katie, who is a Collie-Rottweiler-Australian Shepherd mix.

“She would climb over all the other puppies to get to me and then just sit there and lick my face – I had to keep her,” said Giannisis.

Definitely a dog worth giving thanks for having this day and every day.